1In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of
Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and
besieged it. 2And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah
into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; and he
carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god: and he
brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god. 3And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he
should bring in certain of the children of Israel, even of the seed
royal and of the nobles; 4youths in whom was no blemish,
but well-favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and endued with
knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to
stand in the king's palace; and that he should teach them the
learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. 5And the king
appointed for them a daily portion of the king's dainties, and of
the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three
years; that at the end thereof they should stand before the king.
6Now among these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. 7And the prince of the
eunuchs gave names unto them: unto Daniel he gave the name of
Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of
Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abed-nego.

8But Daniel
purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the
king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he
requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile
himself. 9Now God made Daniel to find kindness and
compassion in the sight of the prince of the eunuchs. 10And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the
king, who hath appointed your food and your drink: for why should he
see your faces worse looking than the youths that are of your own
age? so would ye endanger my head with the king. 11Then
said Daniel to the steward whom the prince of the eunuchs had
appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 12Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us
pulse to eat, and water to drink. 13Then let our
countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the
youths that eat of the king's dainties; and as thou seest, deal with
thy servants.

14So he hearkened unto them in this
matter, and proved them ten days. 15And at the end of
ten days their countenances appeared fairer, and they were fatter in
flesh, than all the youths that did eat of the king's dainties.
16So the steward took away their dainties, and the wine that
they should drink, and gave them pulse.

17Now as for
these four youths, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning
and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
18And at the end of the days which the king had
appointed for bringing them in, the prince of the eunuchs brought
them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19And the king communed
with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. 20And in every matter of wisdom and understanding, concerning which
the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all
the magicians and enchanters that were in all his realm. 21And Daniel continued even unto the first year of king Cyrus.

2 Daniel 2

1And in the second year of the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams; and his spirit was
troubled, and his sleep went from him. 2Then the king
commanded to call the magicians, and the enchanters, and the
sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. So they
came in and stood before the king. 3And the king said
unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know
the dream. 4Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in the
Syrian language, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream,
and we will show the interpretation. 5The king answered
and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye make not
known unto me the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall be
cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill. 6But if ye show the dream and the interpretation thereof, ye shall
receive of me gifts and rewards and great honor: therefore show me
the dream and the interpretation thereof. 7They answered
the second time and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream,
and we will show the interpretation. 8The king answered
and said, I know of a certainty that ye would gain time, because ye
see the thing is gone from me. 9But if ye make not known
unto me the dream, there is but one law for you; for ye have
prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time
be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye
can show me the interpretation thereof. 10The Chaldeans
answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the
earth that can show the king's matter, forasmuch as no king, lord,
or ruler, hath asked such a thing of any magician, or enchanter, or
Chaldean. 11And it is a rare thing that the king
requireth, and there is no other that can show it before the king,
except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. 12For
this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to
destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13So the decree
went forth, and the wise men were to be slain; and they sought
Daniel and his companions to be slain.

14Then Daniel
returned answer with counsel and prudence to Arioch the captain of
the king's guard, who was gone forth to slay the wise men of
Babylon; 15he answered and said to Arioch the king's
captain, Wherefore is the decree so urgent from the king? Then
Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 16And Daniel went
in, and desired of the king that he would appoint him a time, and he
would show the king the interpretation.

17Then Daniel
went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah, his companions: 18that they would desire
mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and
his companions should nor perish with the rest of the wise men of
Babylon. 19Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a
vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and
ever; for wisdom and might are his. 21And he changeth
the times and the seasons; he removeth kings, and setteth up kings;
he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that have
understanding; 22he revealeth the deep and secret
things; he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth
with him. 23I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of
my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast now made
known unto me what we desired of thee; for thou hast made known unto
us the king's matter. 24Therefore Daniel went in unto
Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of
Babylon; he went and said thus unto him: Destroy not the wise men of
Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king
the interpretation.

25Then Arioch brought in Daniel
before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man
of the children of the captivity of Judah, that will make known unto
the king the interpretation. 26The king answered and
said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make
known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation
thereof? 27Daniel answered before the king, and said,
The secret which the king hath demanded can neither wise men,
enchanters, magicians, nor soothsayers, show unto the king; 28but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and he hath
made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter
days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are
these: 29as for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy
mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that
revealeth secrets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass.
30But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for
any wisdom that I have more than any living, but to the intent that
the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that thou
mayest know the thoughts of thy heart.

31Thou, O king,
sawest, and, behold, a great image. This image, which was mighty,
and whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the
aspect thereof was terrible. 32As for this image, its
head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly
and its thighs of brass, 33its legs of iron, its feet
part of iron, and part of clay. 34Thou sawest till that
a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its
feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. 35Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold,
broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer
threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, so that no place
was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a
great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

36This is
the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the
king. 37Thou, O king, art king of kings, unto whom the
God of heaven hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength,
and the glory; 38and wheresoever the children of men
dwell, the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens hath he
given into thy hand, and hath made thee to rule over them all: thou
art the head of gold. 39And after thee shall arise
another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of
brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40And
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron
breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that
crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces and crush. 41And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay,
and part of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be
in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron
mixed with miry clay. 42And as the toes of the feet were
part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly
strong, and partly broken. 43And whereas thou sawest the
iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the
seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron
doth not mingle with clay. 44And in the days of those
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be
destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another
people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
and it shall stand for ever. 45Forasmuch as thou sawest
that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it
brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the
gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to
pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation
thereof sure.

46Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon
his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should
offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him. 47The king
answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of
gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou
hast been able to reveal this secret. 48Then the king
made Daniel great, and gave him many great gifts, and made him to
rule over the whole province of Babylon, and to be chief governor
over all the wise men of Babylon. 49And Daniel requested
of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, over
the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel was in the gate
of the king.

The Holy
Bible, American Standard Version - First published in the year of
our Lord (Anno Domini) AD 1901, by Thomas Nelson & Sons, Publishers.
Also called the Standard American Edition - Revised Version.www.BibleABC.net